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Jakarta Post

Four reasons millennials remain at workplaces

Another challenge we faced is stereotyping about millennials. People say we are lazy, place too high standards about work and are constant job hoppers.

Andrew Citra Prasatya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, September 30, 2016

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Four reasons millennials remain at workplaces Illustration of a workplace. (Shutterstock/File)

As someone born in the 1990s, now is the time for me to find the best place for my career. 

Finding one is a challenge. Even though there lots of places to apply to, millennials have unique characteristics when it comes to workplace. These things are affected by information that we get from social media, television and other sources of information.

Another challenge we faced is stereotyping about millennials. People say we are lazy, place too high standards about work and are constant job hoppers.

Most of the time the stereotyping is wrong. Millennials have specific characteristics that people can’t generalized; because one system doesn't fit different generations.

Today, I work for a startup company in Malaysia called iPrice. This is my third job in my career. Here I want to share the things that make millennials decide to stay at a workplace, based on my own perspective as one myself.

 

Appreciation

We are not lazy. We are willing to stay all night to meet a deadline if necessary. We are also prepared to work on weekends for a press conference. We are prepared to spend energy and even money if we love what we do in the office.

Most of the time what demotivates is a lack of appreciation. We often face unfair judgment at the office. Sometimes mistakes get more attention than achievements. When we make a mistake, we will surely be given a warning, but when we make an achievement, it isn't always appreciated. Why? Because an employer expects a worker to make achievements.

This is not how millennials want it to be at a workplace. We want our company to pay equal attention to mistakes and achievements.

(Read also: Organization encourages autistic individuals to learn employable skills)

 

Place to grow

I often hear about friends deciding to resign from their jobs. Most of the time their reasons are the same: they don’t feel any improvement in their lives.

Millennials need a workplace where they can fulfill their desire to learn and understand new things. We are not a generation that is satisfied with what we already know; we always want to know more and more.

Simple online courses, workshops and training can be solutions for a company if it wants to keep its millennials happy. These activities will not only bring benefits to us but also to the company. Once we are happy, we perform better, it's as simple as that.

 

Supportive manager

We hate “bossy” managers; we don’t need them. What we need is a coach. We need someone that leads by example, not only by giving orders. 

A supportive manager will tell you when have done something wrong, but he will also tell you what you can do next time to avoid the same mistake. A supportive manager will motive you to work harder and better. 

If you read articles about workplaces, you will often learn about people wanting to leave their manager, not their company.

(Read also: Advance your career by networking)

 

Office design and decor

This might be the least important aspect, but it affects our decision to stay at one place.

We are a generation of the digital era. We use as many social media sources as possible to gain information, learn something new and spread information from our side. We post selfies, take photos when at a nice restaurant, record videos and upload them online on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and many others. When we have a cool office design, it prompts us to take a picture of it and post it on social media. We do this to show our pride in working there.

Moreover, a good office design triggers more creative thinking from us as millennials. 

 

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Andrew is a creative junkie, blogger and digital enthusiast. He has huge passion to travel around the world and interests in personal development books. He works at iPrice.

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